books to read

[oyolar]

No, thanks for the recommendation because there are other episodes I’m interested in listening too but it’s definitely slim pickings. I took a class at a critical studies non-profit in NYC that was supposed to spend a lot of time on Bataille (along with other authors) and I walked away disappointed. I just don’t think a lot of people know how to talk about him but they know he’s saying something.  They just hope they’ll get there organically and you can’t do that with Bataille. He takes active engagement.

[HyperBeam]

what's the deal w/ bataille? what's his point of interest?

[childhood]

https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/13/130AEF1531746AAD6AC03EF59F91E1A1_Killing_Hope_Blum_William.pdf

[Alan]

L-O-L

[oyolar]

what's the deal w/ bataille? what's his point of interest?

Oh man.  The quick explanation is he’s interested in examining and understanding (and transgressing) the limits of human experience / life / death and how those interact with mystical and religious experiences more generally in face of the reality of the death (and general non-existence) of God and the spiritual realm from which those experiences can be said to emanate from.  He discusses and explores those experiences from a lot of perspectives: economical, sociological / anthropological, historical, theological, mystical, aesthetic, etc. through a variety of forms (personal essay / journals, aphorisms, literature, poetry, and academic writing).

[HyperBeam]

those are some heavy stones he's pushing around

[Peter Zagreus]

Picked it up randomly, read it in an afternoon, and actually teared up a little bit at the end. Tangled in sentiment.

[IUTSM]

Hardcopy books are one of the only things i spend money on, but y'all ever heard of z library project? over 5million free ebooks, with really good titles, contemporary and out of print, texts, articles, and more...

 peep this: https://b-ok.cc/

[JB]

https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Me-Bathroom-Rebirth-2001-2011/dp/0062233106/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3Q97YWR4XCU9N&keywords=meet+me+in+the+bathroom&qid=1574091366&sprefix=meet+me+in+the+bat%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-1

Finally read Meet Me in the Bathroom after hearing about it for years. It's solid if you're into music and grew up listening to a lot of the rock revival bands of the early 00's. The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol are kind of the main three they cover, but they touch on dozens of others from that time period. I'm not a fan of The Strokes and I still think they're one of the most overrated bands out there, but I still enjoyed learning about their history. I dig a lot of the other bands from around that time and they kept me interested.

If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" book thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

This is also probably only the second book I've ever read cover-to-cover outside of something for school. My wife and I don't always agree on what TV shows we watch at night, and I got tired of looking at my phone while she watched shows I didn't like and thats what pushed me to get that book. Spending the last bit of my day reading and not looking at a screen has been one of the best things I've done for myself though and I don't want to go back.

[no habla mango]

https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Me-Bathroom-Rebirth-2001-2011/dp/0062233106/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3Q97YWR4XCU9N&keywords=meet+me+in+the+bathroom&qid=1574091366&sprefix=meet+me+in+the+bat%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-1

Finally read Meet Me in the Bathroom after hearing about it for years. It's solid if you're into music and grew up listening to a lot of the rock revival bands of the early 00's. The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol are kind of the main three they cover, but they touch on dozens of others from that time period. I'm not a fan of The Strokes and I still think they're one of the most overrated bands out there, but I still enjoyed learning about their history. I dig a lot of the other bands from around that time and they kept me interested.

If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" books thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

This is also probably only the second book I've ever read cover-to-cover outside of something for school. My wife and I don't always agree on what TV shows we watch at night, and I got tired of looking at my phone while she watched shows I didn't like and thats what pushed me to get that book. Spending the last bit of my dad reading and not look at a screen has been one of the best things I've done for myself though and I don't want to go back.

'this band could be your life' was good. i read it and 'please kill me' back to back so i conflate the 2. think it was ian mackay, husker du, some other 90s luminaries. rollins? forget but it was good.

[Alan]

Yeah that's 'this band could be your life' you're thinking of.

On that note, I gotta finish Girls to the Front.

[know_your_role]

summer break for uni now and i've finally got some time to read. borges was great but apparently my version is a poor translation. eco is such a fun author to read, its really obvious how much taleb bites him in this book. also struggling through Proust in french, I think I need to postpone and read some easier works in french first.

[Jagr]

Finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter recently, and now I’m reading A Journey to the West. I’m about 200 pages in and it’s okay so far, but I’m a little wary of the 1800 pages I still have left. Plus my friend just brought me a whole stack of books from the states, and I’m more excited to read most of those at the moment. One of the books he brought is House of Leaves, and just flipping through the pages gets me excited to jump into it. Does anyone have any tips about how to read/not get too frustrated with the book? (I’m fairly certain I’ve seen oyolar mention it before)

What did you think about the heart is a lonely hunter?

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

Expand Quote

Finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter recently, and now I’m reading A Journey to the West. I’m about 200 pages in and it’s okay so far, but I’m a little wary of the 1800 pages I still have left. Plus my friend just brought me a whole stack of books from the states, and I’m more excited to read most of those at the moment. One of the books he brought is House of Leaves, and just flipping through the pages gets me excited to jump into it. Does anyone have any tips about how to read/not get too frustrated with the book? (I’m fairly certain I’ve seen oyolar mention it before)

[close]

What did you think about the heart is a lonely hunter?

I really enjoyed it. I grew up in a small southern town, and her descriptions had me feeling all sorts of nostalgia. The narrative moves around several different characters, so you get a good sense of how the town and it’s culture shape different people, and I think about anyone could read and appreciate it. All in all, it was a solid piece of “southern gothic” lit — sad, but with enough dark humor and absurdity throughout to sort of lighten the emotional toll. Would recommend.

Edit: currently reading go set a watchman. Definitely wouldn’t tell anyone else to pick it up. But I’m also moving through 40 stories by Donald Barthelme and those things are gooood.

[Jagr]

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Finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter recently, and now I’m reading A Journey to the West. I’m about 200 pages in and it’s okay so far, but I’m a little wary of the 1800 pages I still have left. Plus my friend just brought me a whole stack of books from the states, and I’m more excited to read most of those at the moment. One of the books he brought is House of Leaves, and just flipping through the pages gets me excited to jump into it. Does anyone have any tips about how to read/not get too frustrated with the book? (I’m fairly certain I’ve seen oyolar mention it before)

[close]

What did you think about the heart is a lonely hunter?

[close]

I really enjoyed it. I grew up in a small southern town, and her descriptions had me feeling all sorts of nostalgia. The narrative moves around several different characters, so you get a good sense of how the town and it’s culture shape different people, and I think about anyone could read and appreciate it. All in all, it was a solid piece of “southern gothic” lit — sad, but with enough dark humor and absurdity throughout to sort of lighten the emotional toll. Would recommend.

Edit: currently reading go set a watchman. Definitely wouldn’t tell anyone else to pick it up. But I’m also moving through 40 stories by Donald Barthelme and those things are gooood.

i'm about halfway through heart is a lonely hunter. amazing book so far. great writer. amazing she was only like 22 when the book was published and started it at 18 or 19.

[BuckyFellini]

If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" book thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

If you're more into those early bands (like I am) definitely read Please Kill Me next. I thought it was much better than Meet Me in the Bathroom (although I did enjoy that as well). Please Kill Me is just packed with interesting (and gnarly) stories, while I found Meet Me in the Bathroom to have sections I didn't much care about (like Vampire Weekend, for instance). I mean, Please Kill Me is worth reading just for the Iggy stories. Honestly can't believe that dude is still alive.

Our Band Could Be Your Life is also good, as others mentioned. There is also an L.A. version of Please Kill Me called We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. It's also an oral history book. But I haven't read it yet so I can't really comment on it. 

[brycickle]

I mean, Please Kill Me is worth reading just for the Iggy stories. Honestly can't believe that dude is still alive.

So many quaaludes.

[BuckyFellini]

Just recently read these two books back to back, since they always seem to get lumped in together for various reasons. I never even realized Bret Easton Ellis wrote Less Than Zero, let alone that it was his first book or that he wrote it at 21. It was okay but feels like it could have been a stronger book. Starts off fairly slow but it does get noticeably better later on. I remember seeing the movie as a kid and thinking it was gnarly (you know, the whole sucking dick for drugs thing)... rewatched the movie after finishing the book and the movie doesn't even include the gnarliest stuff. I guess it would have been a controversial movie when it came out in 1987 as it is...

I liked Bright Lights, Big City much more. It's written in the second person, which is pretty unusual but really draws you in. The writing style grabbed my attention on the first page and kept it the whole way through. Pretty good story about a guy living in NY in the 80s, doing way too much blow and watching his life crumble around him over the course of a week.

[JB]

Expand Quote

If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" book thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

[close]

If you're more into those early bands (like I am) definitely read Please Kill Me next. I thought it was much better than Meet Me in the Bathroom (although I did enjoy that as well). Please Kill Me is just packed with interesting (and gnarly) stories, while I found Meet Me in the Bathroom to have sections I didn't much care about (like Vampire Weekend, for instance). I mean, Please Kill Me is worth reading just for the Iggy stories. Honestly can't believe that dude is still alive.

Our Band Could Be Your Life is also good, as others mentioned. There is also an L.A. version of Please Kill Me called We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. It's also an oral history book. But I haven't read it yet so I can't really comment on it. 

I looked for Please Kill Me at the local library but they didn't have it. I put it on my Xmas list though, so hopefully I'll get to read it soon.



This book almost jumped off the shelf at me though. I'm obviously way too young to have experienced this place, but it played a big role in the Stooges and MC5's success, so I figured I had to read it. I've also been a big fan of the gig posters that were made in the late 60's and early 70's from the Grande for years. It wasn't the best book though. Fairly short read, but you had to get almost half way though before any mention of rock n roll. In my opinion it focused too deeply on all the owners, architects, promoters and not enough on musicians. I was hoping of hearing stories about the music, but 90% of the book was just stories about the building and the people who ran it. Not a bad book, but probably not for anyone outside of Detroit unless you've got a real love for late 60's Detroit rock music.



Working my way though this right now. I'm not a huge RHCP fan, but I dig some of their stuff. My wife bought the book years ago and I found it in the basement when I was looking for something to read. It's actually really good so far. I've read though his childhood and he's about 18-19 where I'm at now. No band yet, but he's already living a wild life. The dude was doing quaaludes and coke and fucking adult women when he was in middle school.

[fakie nollie]

Expand Quote

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If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" book thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

[close]

If you're more into those early bands (like I am) definitely read Please Kill Me next. I thought it was much better than Meet Me in the Bathroom (although I did enjoy that as well). Please Kill Me is just packed with interesting (and gnarly) stories, while I found Meet Me in the Bathroom to have sections I didn't much care about (like Vampire Weekend, for instance). I mean, Please Kill Me is worth reading just for the Iggy stories. Honestly can't believe that dude is still alive.

Our Band Could Be Your Life is also good, as others mentioned. There is also an L.A. version of Please Kill Me called We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. It's also an oral history book. But I haven't read it yet so I can't really comment on it. 

[close]

I looked for Please Kill Me at the local library but they didn't have it. I put it on my Xmas list though, so hopefully I'll get to read it soon.



This book almost jumped off the shelf at me though. I'm obviously way too young to have experienced this place, but it played a big role in the Stooges and MC5's success, so I figured I had to read it. I've also been a big fan of the gig posters that were made in the late 60's and early 70's from the Grande for years. It wasn't the best book though. Fairly short read, but you had to get almost half way though before any mention of rock n roll. In my opinion it focused too deeply on all the owners, architects, promoters and not enough on musicians. I was hoping of hearing stories about the music, but 90% of the book was just stories about the building and the people who ran it. Not a bad book, but probably not for anyone outside of Detroit unless you've got a real love for late 60's Detroit rock music.



Working my way though this right now. I'm not a huge RHCP fan, but I dig some of their stuff. My wife bought the book years ago and I found it in the basement when I was looking for something to read. It's actually really good so far. I've read though his childhood and he's about 18-19 where I'm at now. No band yet, but he's already living a wild life. The dude was doing quaaludes and coke and fucking adult women when he was in middle school.

RE: Scar Tissue
I read this over a 4 day camping trip on the beach. Drunk for 8-12 hours of the day and reading about his life was pretty gnarly. I had no idea he was so well connected as a kid (Cher, etc.).

While the content itself is entertaining, that's about the extent of what kept me in the book. I think the reading level of said book is probably aimed towards a 12-16 YO demographic.

[JB]

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If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" book thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

[close]

If you're more into those early bands (like I am) definitely read Please Kill Me next. I thought it was much better than Meet Me in the Bathroom (although I did enjoy that as well). Please Kill Me is just packed with interesting (and gnarly) stories, while I found Meet Me in the Bathroom to have sections I didn't much care about (like Vampire Weekend, for instance). I mean, Please Kill Me is worth reading just for the Iggy stories. Honestly can't believe that dude is still alive.

Our Band Could Be Your Life is also good, as others mentioned. There is also an L.A. version of Please Kill Me called We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. It's also an oral history book. But I haven't read it yet so I can't really comment on it. 

[close]

I looked for Please Kill Me at the local library but they didn't have it. I put it on my Xmas list though, so hopefully I'll get to read it soon.



This book almost jumped off the shelf at me though. I'm obviously way too young to have experienced this place, but it played a big role in the Stooges and MC5's success, so I figured I had to read it. I've also been a big fan of the gig posters that were made in the late 60's and early 70's from the Grande for years. It wasn't the best book though. Fairly short read, but you had to get almost half way though before any mention of rock n roll. In my opinion it focused too deeply on all the owners, architects, promoters and not enough on musicians. I was hoping of hearing stories about the music, but 90% of the book was just stories about the building and the people who ran it. Not a bad book, but probably not for anyone outside of Detroit unless you've got a real love for late 60's Detroit rock music.



Working my way though this right now. I'm not a huge RHCP fan, but I dig some of their stuff. My wife bought the book years ago and I found it in the basement when I was looking for something to read. It's actually really good so far. I've read though his childhood and he's about 18-19 where I'm at now. No band yet, but he's already living a wild life. The dude was doing quaaludes and coke and fucking adult women when he was in middle school.

[close]

RE: Scar Tissue
I read this over a 4 day camping trip on the beach. Drunk for 8-12 hours of the day and reading about his life was pretty gnarly. I had no idea he was so well connected as a kid (Cher, etc.).

While the content itself is entertaining, that's about the extent of what kept me in the book. I think the reading level of said book is probably aimed towards a 12-16 YO demographic.

That's the nicest way anyone's ever called me stupid. Thanks, I guess.

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

Read the Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides recently. It was pretty good. Seemed strait forward for the most part, and then in the last two pages took a great “meta” turn that forces you to rethink the whole thing. Love that in a book.
Now I’m reading Plainsong by Kent Haruf, a random book I got from one of those little free library things. I’d call is “soft McCarthy.” A lot of grit and tough characters, but with more compassion amongst them than is typical in McCarthy’s work, especially his earlier stuff.

[carlomarxxx]

Very funny book.

[WastedHippy]

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If anyone has any similar recommendations, let me know. I think I'm going to try to pick up that "Please Kill Me" book thats like a history of early punk. Looks pretty similar and has good reviews, plus I'm a but more into those early bands than the "Meet me in the Bathroom" bands.

[close]

If you're more into those early bands (like I am) definitely read Please Kill Me next. I thought it was much better than Meet Me in the Bathroom (although I did enjoy that as well). Please Kill Me is just packed with interesting (and gnarly) stories, while I found Meet Me in the Bathroom to have sections I didn't much care about (like Vampire Weekend, for instance). I mean, Please Kill Me is worth reading just for the Iggy stories. Honestly can't believe that dude is still alive.

Our Band Could Be Your Life is also good, as others mentioned. There is also an L.A. version of Please Kill Me called We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. It's also an oral history book. But I haven't read it yet so I can't really comment on it. 

[close]

I looked for Please Kill Me at the local library but they didn't have it. I put it on my Xmas list though, so hopefully I'll get to read it soon.



This book almost jumped off the shelf at me though. I'm obviously way too young to have experienced this place, but it played a big role in the Stooges and MC5's success, so I figured I had to read it. I've also been a big fan of the gig posters that were made in the late 60's and early 70's from the Grande for years. It wasn't the best book though. Fairly short read, but you had to get almost half way though before any mention of rock n roll. In my opinion it focused too deeply on all the owners, architects, promoters and not enough on musicians. I was hoping of hearing stories about the music, but 90% of the book was just stories about the building and the people who ran it. Not a bad book, but probably not for anyone outside of Detroit unless you've got a real love for late 60's Detroit rock music.



Working my way though this right now. I'm not a huge RHCP fan, but I dig some of their stuff. My wife bought the book years ago and I found it in the basement when I was looking for something to read. It's actually really good so far. I've read though his childhood and he's about 18-19 where I'm at now. No band yet, but he's already living a wild life. The dude was doing quaaludes and coke and fucking adult women when he was in middle school.

Ignoring FakieNollie's demographic comment haha I really liked Scar tissue, I read it a few years ago and in terms of music biographies it's one of my favourites. It's kind of nuts how when he gets off drugs he just decides to stop and basically could spend years off before deciding to jump back in. Great read though with some of his experiences

[Peter Zagreus]

Black satire!

[Peter Zagreus]

Just ordered these and am stoked about it so I'm gonna spam the thread...

[botefdunn]

Those are great covers.

[Peter Zagreus]

Those are great covers.

They don't make them like they used to...
I'll get a new copy of a book if it's something I'm going to work with heavily, but otherwise it's such a treat to find an old paperback with a steezy cover.

[igrindtwinkies]

I'm a ways into Siddhartha - Herman Hesse.  I was recommended this by some nutjob hippy type, I don't think this book is for me.  Hoping I'm wrong.

[Peter Zagreus]

Gearing back up for school again. I'll be reading night and day.

I know there's some McCarthy heads in the thread. Just finished Suttree. Loved it. I'd place it above Blood Meridian.

This one's required and it's a real doorstopper at over 800 pages. Haven't read Eliot and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I'd thought I would. She apparently translated Spinoza's Ethics, so I'm revisiting that in tandem. Maybe a paper will come out of it.

Not her translation, though. I love the aesthetic of Hackett paperbacks. So simple and elegant.

Also trying to get through these Heidegger lectures before the semester starts popping off. I doubt I will, but it's been a provocative read thus far.